nVidia's SLI Apparently Doesn't Require CK8-04 MB

Atif

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Oct 10, 2001
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This story is of particular interest to me (I don't know if the same will hold true for everybody) because the score was achieved NOT on a prototype CK8-04 chipset reference board, but rather an "Intel Tumwater"-based system.

I guess this means nVidia's SLI is NOT dependent on their chipset, any motherboard with multiple PCI Express slots will do :)

Article Link

Peace
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
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A single XTPE beat dual 6800U's in SLI?

I hope something is wrong somewhere for NV's sake.

I see that 726mhz core on the XTPE but still.......
 

Atif

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Oct 10, 2001
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The details of nVidia's testing are linked in the press release (in the first post)

I'm just thrilled that we don't HAVE TO wait for nVidia's own SLI motherboard to use SLI, apparently a board with a 16x and 4x PCI-E slot will work. My only question is are 6600GT PCI-E cards coming with the SLI connector?

Peace
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
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Well, that's good to know, but I'd still like an explanation of how a single XTPE can even approach dual 6800U's in SLI in this bench mark.
 

Insomniak

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Originally posted by: LTC8K6
A single XTPE beat dual 6800U's in SLI?

I hope something is wrong somewhere for NV's sake.

I see that 726mhz core on the XTPE but still.......



I think the 6800Us are CPU choked. They're trying to push triangles when backed by a 3.4 Ghz proc...slow as balls.

The X800 is being pushed by an Athlon FX 53 @ 2.65Ghz...that roughly equates a Pentium 4 4Ghz or so...I think the NV cards are choked.

Again, however, I really couldn't care less about 3dmark...

 

Lonyo

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Aug 10, 2002
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Originally posted by: Atif
The details of nVidia's testing are linked in the press release (in the first post)

I'm just thrilled that we don't HAVE TO wait for nVidia's own SLI motherboard to use SLI, apparently a board with a 16x and 4x PCI-E slot will work. My only question is are 6600GT PCI-E cards coming with the SLI connector?

Peace

Yes, 6600GT's are SLI capable, but vanilla 6600's are not.
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
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So, what the heck are 2 lesser NV cards going to perform like?

Something is wrong, or SLI is not providing nearly the boost it ought to.

I'm hoping something is wrong.

The CPU bottleneck is certainly possible, but you'd think NV would have known about that. CPU's weren't much of an influence on 3DM03, though. It was mostly the GPU.

Maybe NV is sandbagging? :D
 

Rage187

Lifer
Dec 30, 2000
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Originally posted by: LTC8K6
Well, that's good to know, but I'd still like an explanation of how a single XTPE can even approach dual 6800U's in SLI in this bench mark.



They have A.I turned on?
 

Atif

Platinum Member
Oct 10, 2001
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Lonyo, I know they are SLI-capable, but my understanding was that there would be a connector that must be placed on both cards so as to use SLI (much like the Voodoo2s of yesteryear) Is this connector being included with PCI-E 6600GT retail cards shipping today (like those from Sparkle available at GameVE)?

Peace
 

klah

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Aug 13, 2002
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Originally posted by: LTC8K6
Well, that's good to know, but I'd still like an explanation of how a single XTPE can even approach dual 6800U's in SLI in this bench mark.

One is cooled with liquid nitrogen and overclocked 70% and the other is at stock speeds on a server chipset? These benchmarks are 1024x768 with no AA/AF where SLI does not help performance much(35%)?

I'd wait for high res/AA/AF results before drawing any conclusions.

 

Insomniak

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Originally posted by: obeseotron
My overclocked 6800gt does over 5500, 7200 for sli seems pretty awful to me.



Well, nobody ever said SLI was good. Remember that it hasn't been tested yet. It seemed like a very interesting technology IF it did in fact double performance, but it may not do so. We'll have to wait until AT and co test it up to see what it's capable of. Marketing BS is nothing to judge on...
 

Childs

Lifer
Jul 9, 2000
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Originally posted by: klah
Originally posted by: LTC8K6
Well, that's good to know, but I'd still like an explanation of how a single XTPE can even approach dual 6800U's in SLI in this bench mark.

One is cooled with liquid nitrogen and overclocked 70% and the other is at stock speeds on a server chipset? These benchmarks are 1024x768 with no AA/AF where SLI does not help performance much(35%)?

I'd wait for high res/AA/AF results before drawing any conclusions.


No kidding. Lets see what the scores are at 1280x11024 4AA/8AF and above, on a faster processor.
 

CaiNaM

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Oct 26, 2000
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Originally posted by: Insomniak
Originally posted by: obeseotron
My overclocked 6800gt does over 5500, 7200 for sli seems pretty awful to me.



Well, nobody ever said SLI was good. Remember that it hasn't been tested yet. It seemed like a very interesting technology IF it did in fact double performance, but it may not do so. We'll have to wait until AT and co test it up to see what it's capable of. Marketing BS is nothing to judge on...

lots of ppl have said "SLI was good"; many nv faithful even proclaimed it the death of ati. just search this board. i've certainly speant enuff time debating that here, or questioning the "claimed" performance gains ;)

still, 3dm is not the definitive answer on exactly how well this config will perform...

Originally posted by: klah
I'd wait for high res/AA/AF results before drawing any conclusions.

good point. low res/low aa/af situations are much more likely to show cpu bottlenecks before gpu bottlenecks...

 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
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Is 3DM05 a whole system test like 3DM01, or is it a GPU test like 3DM03?

Still, a 30% perf increase is nothing to sneeze at.

You'd just have to determine if it is worth the cost of a second card to you.
 

Avalon

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Jul 16, 2001
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Originally posted by: LTC8K6
Is 3DM05 a whole system test like 3DM01, or is it a GPU test like 3DM03?

Still, a 30% perf increase is nothing to sneeze at.

You'd just have to determine if it is worth the cost of a second card to you.

That's exactly what I'm wondering, and what I will test later tonight. From the looks of some scores, though, it appears that it's a GPU test like 3DM03.
 

Insomniak

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Originally posted by: CaiNaM
lots of ppl have said "SLI was good"; many nv faithful even proclaimed it the death of ati. just search this board. i've certainly speant enuff time debating that here, or questioning the "claimed" performance gains ;)

still, 3dm is not the definitive answer on exactly how well this config will perform...

Smartass :D

You know what I meant. There has been no definitive testing or evidence of SLI performance. People can spout all they want - until I see benches, I'll just stay cautiously optimistic. If SLI performs the way NV says, I think it will be very compelling technology. However, I doubt that it will...but here's hoping :beer:
 

DAPUNISHER

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FWIW, I gained 900 points just going from 61.77 to 66.70.
 

DAPUNISHER

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Originally posted by: Insomniak
Originally posted by: CaiNaM
lots of ppl have said "SLI was good"; many nv faithful even proclaimed it the death of ati. just search this board. i've certainly speant enuff time debating that here, or questioning the "claimed" performance gains ;)

still, 3dm is not the definitive answer on exactly how well this config will perform...

Smartass :D

You know what I meant. There has been no definitive testing or evidence of SLI performance. People can spout all they want - until I see benches, I'll just stay cautiously optimistic. If SLI performs the way NV says, I think it will be very compelling technology. However, I doubt that it will...but here's hoping :beer:
Yep. I'd like to see it on a FX+nForce SLI setup with more mature forcewares all around.